Instagram Use and First-Year College Students' Social Adjustment

Despite many research on the relation between social media and college students, the results are still varied. Moreover, a study that focuses on patterns of social media use is still limited, especially in Indonesia. Therefore, this study tested the relationship between patterns of Instagram (IG)-a popular social media in Indonesia-use and social adjustment of the first-year college students. This correlational study involved 137 college students in Jakarta Greater Area. Data were gathered using The Instagram Perceived Use Scale and The Social Adjustment subscale of The Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ). The multiple regression statistical analysis showed that among four patterns of IG use, only three patterns related to the freshmen' social adjustment. They were the pattern of maintaining a social connection (MSC), sharing and seeking personal information (SSPI), and gaming (GAME). Furthermore, MSC was the only significant predictor to college freshmen's social adjustment. Meanwhile, there was no correlation between social adjustment and using IG for pursuing social romantic or sexual relationships (PRSR). In conclusion, IG use could significantly predict first-year college students' social adjustment as long as the usage is intended to maintain their social connections. Penelitian untuk memahami hubungan antara sosial media dengan kehidupan mahasiswa semakin popular akhir-akhir ini. Namun demikian, hasil studinya masih beragam. Selain itu, studi yang berfokus pada pola dari penggunaan sosial media masih terbatas, khususnya di Indonesia. Untuk itu, penelitian ini ingin menguji hubungan antara sejumlah pola penggunaan Instagram (IG), salah satu media sosial yang sangat popular di Indonesia, dengan penyesuaian sosial dari mahasiswa tahun pertama. Dalam penelitian berdesain korelasional ini, data dikumpulkan dari 137 mahasiswa yang berkuliah di daerah JaBoDeTaBek, dengan menggunakan The Instagram Perceived Use Scale serta bagian penyesuaian sosial dari The Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ). Hasil uji statistik dengan analisis multiple regression menunjukkan bahwa hanya 3 (tiga) dari 4 (empat) pola penggunaan IG yang mempengaruhi penyesuaian sosial mahasiswa tingkat pertama. Bersama-sama, penggunaan IG untuk menjaga jaringan sosial, membagi dan mencari informasi pribadi, dan bermain game dapat menjelaskan penyesuaian sosial mahasiswa tingkat pertama. Namun, hanya penggunaan IG untuk menjaga jaringan sosial-lah yang dapat menjadi prediktor bagi penyesuaian sosial. Sebaliknya, penggunaaan IG untuk mendapatkan hubungan romantis atau seksual, tidak berkorelasi dengan penyesuaian sosial. Dapat disimpulkan bahwa penggunaan IG dapat mempengaruhi penyesuaian sosial mahasiswa tahun pertama selama digunakan untuk menjaga jaringan sosial

Loneliness and Social Internet Use: Pathways to Reconnection in a Digital World?

With the rise of online social networking, social relationships are increasingly developed and maintained in a digital domain. Drawing conclusions about the impact of the digital world on loneliness is difficult because there are contradictory findings, and cross-sectional studies dominate the literature, making causation difficult to establish. In this review, we present our theoretical model and propose that there is a bidirectional and dynamic relationship between loneliness and social Internet use. When the Internet is used as a way station on the route to enhancing existing relationships and forging new social connections, it is a useful tool for reducing loneliness. But when social technologies are used to escape the social world and withdraw from the “social pain” of interaction, feelings of loneliness are increased. We propose that loneliness is also a determinant of how people interact with the digital world. Lonely people express a preference for using the Internet for social interaction and are more likely to use the Internet in a way that displaces time spent in offline social activities. This suggests that lonely people may need support with their social Internet use so that they employ it in a way that enhances existing friendships and/or to forge new ones

Tracing Relations Between Attachment, Social Media Use, Self-Esteem, Loneliness, and Depression: A Mediation Model

An extensive amount of correlational research has well-established the link between insecure attachment style and subsequent adverse interpersonal and psychopathological outcomes. Moreover, the rise of social media has precipitated a shift in the methods by which individuals communicate; consequently, this has resulted in the shifting of preexisting dispositions toward dysfunctional behaviors to a more ubiquitous route of manifestation. Given that attachment literature has indicated notable differences in both underlying mechanisms and resulting outcomes of both avoidant and anxious attachment, examination of this alongside social media use provides valuable insight into potential relationships between the two. Further, research has examined the implications of each of these constructs in relation to self-esteem and loneliness; however, despite the extensive research, there remains a lack of consensus on the positive or negative implications of these interactions. Accordingly, much of the previous literature has neglected to examine the potential psychopathological implications following the combination of each of these constructs. A series of regression analyses revealed significant indirect effects between attachment style and depression. Results indicated a significant positive relationship between best friend attachment anxiety and social media usage; further examination revealed notable significant mediating roles of both self-esteem and loneliness in the indirect relationship between insecure attachment style and depression. Collectively, these findings not only extend research’s understanding of the complex dynamics amongst these variables, but it also advocates the value of further research into attachment style-specific outcomes

The Role of Electronic Communication Processes Across the College Transition: Relations to the Maintenance and Formation of Friendships, Psychological Well-Being, and College Adjustment

Friendship experiences play a vital role in the adjustment of adolescents. Late adolescents transitioning to college negotiate the important developmental tasks of both maintaining close hometown friendships and developing new college friendships. Electronic communication has become a prevalent way to quickly and easily communicate, and friendships that incorporate electronic communication with in-person communication are higher in quality (Baiocco et al., 2011). For some adolescents, however, Internet use becomes excessive and problematic (Ha et al., 2007). The purpose of this investigation was to examine how individuals use different communication technologies with their existing hometown friends and their newer college friends, and how this relates to their friendship quality with both types of friends. The current study also explored how friendship quality relates to students’ college adjustment, whether social anxiety and depressive symptoms moderate the relationship between communication modality and friendship quality, how these psychological factors are related to problematic Internet use, and whether there are gender differences in these associations. Participants included 469 first-year undergraduate students (mean age 18.20 years, 48% male). Participants completed self-report measures online including measures of social anxiety and depressive symptoms, college adjustment, friendship quality, loneliness, and problematic Internet use. The current study revealed key findings, including that phone and in-person communication predicted college friendship quality for both genders. For males, texting and social networking site communication predicted hometown and college friendship quality, and for females, these modes of communication predicted college friendship quality. For females, college friendship quality significantly moderated the relationship between depressive symptoms and problematic Internet use, and hometown friendship quality marginally significantly moderated the relationship between social anxiety symptoms and problematic Internet use. For males, hometown friendship quality significantly moderated the relationship between depressive symptoms and problematic Internet use. Also, for the overall sample, college friendship quality marginally significantly moderated the relationship between loneliness and problematic Internet use. These findings indicate that different friendship experiences can have a protective effect in different situations. The results also reveal which types of communication may be most effective in strengthening friendships and facilitating students’ adjustment to college. Study limitations and future directions for research are discussed

Differential associations between types of social media use and university students' non-suicidal self-injury and suicidal behavior

Under embargo until: 2022-11-2Objective To examine differential associations between types of social media use and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicidal behaviors. Methods Participants were N = 40,065 Norwegian college and university students, age 18–25, from the 2018 Students' Health and Wellbeing (SHoT) study. Students reported on their use of social media for seven specific activities, which we categorized into active and passive non-social use, passive social use, active public social, and active private social use. We also considered students' tendency for negative social comparisons on social media. Outcomes were past-year NSSI, NSSI ideation, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempt. Covariates were age, gender, total daily screen time and financial stress. Results Results of multiple logistic regression revealed differential associations between types of social media use and outcomes. Notably, active social private use (e.g., messaging friends) was associated with decreased odds of all outcomes, whereas active social public use (e.g., status updates) was associated with increased odds of NSSI ideation, NSSI, and suicide attempt. Social comparison was associated with increased odds of all outcomes. Conclusion Our results suggest that specific types of social media use are differentially associated with NSSI and suicidal outcomes among university students.acceptedVersio

The Role of Attachment in Young Adults\u27 Use of Facebook for Coping

The Internet has become integrated into the daily lives of adolescents and young adults, and researchers have begun to investigate the predictors, correlates, and consequences of Internet use. Research has suggested that individuals with social strengths and individuals with social weaknesses both may benefit from using the Internet to cope. The purpose of this study was to explore the relations among attachment, offline coping, online coping, and adjustment, as well as to evaluate whether the rich-get-richer or social compensation hypotheses of Internet use explained these relations. Undergraduate students aged 17 to 25 years ( N = 296) completed online measures of their Internet and Facebook use, attachment anxiety and avoidance, offline coping, online coping through Facebook, well-being, and distress. Results showed that the relation between higher levels of attachment anxiety and greater distress was partially mediated by online coping. Attachment avoidance was not related to online coping, but the relation between higher levels of attachment avoidance and decreased well-being was partially mediated by less frequent use of adaptive offline coping strategies. An alternative model suggested a possible reciprocal path indicating that individuals higher in both distress and well-being reported greater frequency of online coping. Further analyses of online coping indicated that most subtypes were related to more intense usage of Facebook, greater attachment anxiety and avoidance, greater use of avoidant coping strategies offline, greater distress, and reduced well-being. These results suggested that the relations among attachment, offline coping, online coping, and psychosocial adjustment are more complex than can be explained by either the rich-get-richer or social compensation hypotheses. Implications of these findings for the development of pathological Internet use also are outlined

Through the Screen: Examining Peer Relationships, Social Anxiety, Loneliness, and Social Media in Undergraduates

Interpersonal connections are a fundamental human need, and as technology becomes more ubiquitous, these connections have shifted to frequently occur online through social media platforms. Two factors that independently influence peer relations are loneliness and social anxiety. However, no study to date has concurrently examined the relation of these psychological factors, social media use, and peer relationships. As such, the aims of the current study were to 1) examine the associations between peer relationships, social media use, loneliness, and social anxiety; 2) investigate the moderating role of quality of peer relationships in the relation of social anxiety and loneliness; and 3) examine the contribution of social anxiety symptoms and loneliness in social media use. Participants were 442 undergraduate students (18.79 Mage; 58.3% female; 64.8% White) who completed self-report measures online. Preference for online social interaction was significantly associated with quality of peer, social anxiety, and loneliness in the expected directions, with social anxiety and loneliness accounting for significant variance in social media use. However, quality of peer relationships was not a significant moderator of social anxiety and loneliness. The results indicate that individuals who are socially anxious and/or lonely may use social media as a proxy for in-person peer relationships. As social interactions and communication continue to increase across myriad online platforms, future work may consider identifying and developing interventions for at-risk individuals who prefer interacting with peers online

Need to Belong, Fear of Missing Out, and Social Media Use: Predictors of Perceived Social Rejection

The decline in mental health among U.S. college students is a significant concern. Research suggests that social media use may contribute to this decline. Heavy reliance on social media has been linked to feelings of loneliness and disconnection, psychological distress, and a fear of missing out on rewarding social experiences, which may ultimately trigger feelings of social rejection. Using a foundation of need to belong theory, the purpose of this quantitative study was to examine individual differences in the need to belong, fear of missing out, and social media use as predictors of emotional and behavioral reactions to ambiguous social situations where social rejection can be inferred. Online survey data from 157 undergraduate students who use social media were collected using the Need to Belong Scale, Fear of Missing Out Scale, Social Networking Time Use Scale, and the Rejection Scenarios Questionnaire. Results from a hierarchical multiple regression revealed that increases in need to belong, fear of missing out, and social media use predicted heightened negative emotional reactions as well as avoidant and complaining behavioral reactions to perceived social rejection. Social media use and the fear of missing out predicted retaliation behavior in response to rejection. The predictor variables were not related to not acting friendly behavior. This study can promote social change by informing policy and instruction on digital media literacy, social media use in the classroom, and therapeutic interventions offered by campus psychological services, all of which can positively influence college students’ mental health and wellbeing

Loneliness is Negatively Related to Facebook Network Size, but Not Related to Facebook Network Structure

High levels of loneliness are associated with poorer outcomes for physical and mental health and a large body of research has examined how using social media sites such as Facebook is associated with loneliness. Time spent on Facebook tends to be associated with higher levels of loneliness, whereas a larger number of Facebook Friends and more active use of Facebook tends to be associated with lower levels of loneliness. However, whilst the network size and structure of ‘offline’ networks have been associated with loneliness, how the network structure on Facebook is associated with loneliness is still unclear. In this study, participants used the Getnet app to directly extract information on network size (number of Facebook Friends), density, number of clusters in the network, and average path length from their Facebook networks, and completed the 20-item UCLA Loneliness questionnaire. In total, 107 participants (36 men, 71 women, Mage = 20.6, SDage = 2.7) took part in the study. Participants with a larger network size reported significantly lower feelings of loneliness. In contrast, network density, number of clusters, and average path length were not significantly related to loneliness. These results suggest that whilst having a larger Facebook network is related to feelings of social connection to others, the structure of the Facebook network may be a less important determinant of loneliness than other factors such as active or passive use of Facebook and individual characteristics of Facebook users

Do Social Media Usage and The Endorsement of Collective Values Predict Loneliness?

It has been suggested that an individual’s loneliness is associated with uses of social media as well as with different cultural beliefs (i.e., individualism and collectivism). However, there is little evidence about whether the time spent on social media (e.g., WeChat, Weibo, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat) and collectivism can predict loneliness in a country that embraces multi-cultures (i.e., Canada). The current study was designed to analyze the relationships between loneliness social media usage (average time spent on social media in a day) as well as the endorsement of collective values. It was expected that the higher endorsement of collective values will offset loneliness and more time spent on social media will facilitate loneliness. Multiple linear regression of data collected from 25 University students in Canada revealed that the score of the endorsement of collective values and average time spent on social media in a day did not predict individuals’ perceived loneliness. Future follow-up studies should emphasize motivations and objective measures of using social media regarding the correlation between collectivism and loneliness and causality of social media usage and collectivism on loneliness in a larger size of sample size